Bowling pin



Jan. 5 1926.

' H, J. BLUHM BOWLING PIN Filed Feb. 16, 1925 Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HABOIiD I. BLUHH, OI MUSKEGON EEIGHTS, MICHIGAN, ABSIGNOR TO THE BRUNS- WICI-BAIiKE-COLLENDER COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORA- 'I'ION OI DELAWARE.

BOWLING PIN.

Application filed February 16, 1925. Serial 170. 9,514.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD J. BLUHM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Muskegon Heights, in the county of Muske- 6 gon and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bowling Pins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bowling pins 10 of the kind which are made of some plastic composition, such as a hard rubber compound, either in the form of a hollow shell or with an interior core of wood or other suitable material. It has been found posll sible to make these bowling pins,'which I may refer to as composition pins, to distinguish them from the ordinary wood pins, so that they will withstand in a generall satisfactory manner the blows and roug usage to which pins are ordinarily subjected. But these composition pins have been found to break at the neck sooner or later when used regularl in bowling, and investigation has deve oped that this breaking at the neck is the result of a bending strain to which the neck is subjected under the impact of the ball against the body of the in After the pin has been struck by the Ball it is generally subjected to more or less rough usage in contact with the ball and the other pins in the alley pit, and bending strains at the neck may result therefrom.

It is the object of this invention to overcome this difliculty, which has been experienced in the past with composition pins and to provide a pin which will not break at the neck under the bending strains to which the pin is subjected in actual use.

With th1s end in view I make the neck 40 of the pin of a material which will yield sufficiently under the bending strains to which the pin is subjected in use, and this naterial may be of the same character as the material of which the body of the pin is made, but is relatively softer in the finished pin. I have obtained good results by the use of a hard rubber compound, the neck of which differs only from the body and the head in that the latter will cure or become relatively harder than the neck.

In the accompanying drawing there has been shown an elevation of the pin of the present invention partly in section.

Referring to the drawing, the bowling pin is made in the form of a hollow shell with a body 5 and a head 6 relatively hard and rigid, and a neck 7 relatively soft and flexible.

This pin is made of a lastic composition and preferably of a har rubber compound, the stock 'for the body 5 and the head 6 being of such a character that it will cure or become harder and more rigid than the neck 7 which is made of a stock which when curved will be softer, and to a certain degree flexible, more than the body and head.v

, In making the pin of the present invention, I first mold two longitudinal and hollow half-sections, and then assemble two such half-sections, with a" sand core therebetween, in a mold, which mold is then subjected to pressure and a vulcanizing heat, after whichthe pin is removed from the mold, the sand core is broken down and removed from the pin through the opening 13 at the bottom thereof, leaving the pin in the form of an empt shell.

In the finishe article, it has been found that, due to the ressure and heat treatments, the joints tween the flexible soft rubber neck section 7 and the hard rubber body portion 5 and the hard rubber head portion 6 disappear as such and the sections become homogeneously united, as indicated by the hatched lines 14.

My invention provides a bowling pin which will resist t e tendency of such pins to break at the neck, and consequently give greater service without material, if any, increase in the cost of manufacture. The tendency of a rigid neck to break under the bending strain produced by a blow on the body or the head of the in is overcome by the relatively soft and exible neck of my invention. The head may be made of the same stockas the neck, if desired, but the head is also subjected to severe blows in the pit, and my present belief is that it will be more desirable to make the head of the same or substantially the same stock as the body.

My invention provides a bowling pin which can be economically manufactured and which will have a much greater life than the wood pin and will not chip, splinter and wear like the wood pins do, it will stand up under the rough usage to which bowling pins are subjected and give longer service many advantages, particularly as to service over a wood 1n. 7

I believe that it will be desirable to make the entire neck of the relatively soft and flexible stock, but it may be found desirable to extend or to reduce the area of thestockand also to vary the construction of the pin from the simple form shown. For example, the shell may be provided with a core, or with reinforcements, and other changes'm-ay be made without departing from my invention, within the scope of the following claims.

'I claim:

1. A bowling pin having a neck relatively softer than the body of the pin.

2. A bowling pm shell made of plastic composition and having a neck relatively softer than the body of the pin.

1,58&,818

3. A bowling pin shell made of plastic composition and having a neck retatively softer than the body and the head of the 4. A bowling pin shell having its neck andbody made of different de ees of softness to rovide a neck relative y softer than the be y and homogeneously connected to the'body.

5. A bowling pin shell made of plastic composition w1th a neck relativel softer than the body and the head and omogeneously connected to the body and the head.

6. A bowling pin having a body and a neck, the material of the neck being more flexible than that of the body.

7. A bowling 'pin havin a. body, ahead, and a neck connecting t e body and the head, the material of the neck being more flexible than that of the body and the head.

8. A bowling in having a hard'rubber body, a hard ru her head, and a flexible ioftdrubber neck connecting the body and the HAROLD J. BLUHM. 

